Voting Instructions

Voting Period: The reading of Prairie Bud, Prairie Bloom and Prairie Pasque nominees officially begins in the fall with each new school year. Awards voting begins October 1 and concludes April 1. Winning titles are announced during National Library Week each April.

Participants: Any South Dakota student in grades PreK-1 for Prairie Bud, grades 2-3 for Prairie Bloom, and grades 4-5 for Prairie Pasque may participate in voting on an annual basis.

Voting Procedures: Students may cast a ballot for any of books that he/she has read or listened to from the list of nominees by selecting all of the titles they feel would be deserving of the Prairie Bud or Prairie Bloom awards. From the Prairie Pasque list, students may vote for any of the books that they have read by ranking them on a 3-point scale.

Casting a Ballot: Awards voting is conducted through an online survey. Students may individually cast a ballot for their favorite nominated books online at their school, library, or home.

A teacher or librarian may also tally and cast votes on behalf of an entire class or school. A parent/guardian may cast votes on behalf of any children in the household that are eligible to vote. No one title can receive more votes than the total number of students indicated on the ballot. The ballots must represent votes made by PreK-2 graders (Prairie Bud), 2-3 graders (Prairie Bloom) or 4-5 graders (Prairie Pasque).

Confidentiality: The online survey contains elements to ensure ethical and fair voting procedures are maintained while also maintaining student confidentiality. Students will not be asked to identify private information while voting for any of the awards.